Posted on May 16, 2016
Is combat required to be called a Combat medic?
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When I was in Germany in the early '80s, a fellow medic wrote on a form "Combat Medic" for his MOS. When our Platoon Sargent(a Vietnam veteran) saw that, he made the private change it, and told him that he has never seen combat, and therefore, is not a "Combat Medic". So, does one have to have seen actual combat to take the title Combat Medic, or Combat Engineer or anything else you can put 'Combat' in front of? Or is it enough to simply have served in a combat zone?
68W: Healthcare Specialist (Combat Medic)
Combat Medic
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Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 89
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Titles don't matter.
These three simple truths matter.
There are 3 rules in combat:
1. Good men will die.
2. Doc can't save everyone.
3. Doc will go through hell to change rules 1 and 2.
We'll take whatever title you give us. Even if we hate it, we didn't enlist for the title.
These three simple truths matter.
There are 3 rules in combat:
1. Good men will die.
2. Doc can't save everyone.
3. Doc will go through hell to change rules 1 and 2.
We'll take whatever title you give us. Even if we hate it, we didn't enlist for the title.
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MSgt Paul Brown
I always tried to change rules 1 and 2, no matter what I tried, rule 2 always won out!
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Negative. There is no combat requirement to be a combat medic, or combat engineer. The day you graduate from the US Army's Combat Medic School, You are a Combat Medic. You must have seen combat to wear the Combat Medical Badge.
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PFC Robert Tate
Agreed. When i was in the MOS was called 91B Combat Medical Specialist and was one of 2 MOS (Engineer being the other) w\here Combat was part of the MOS title regardless of every actually seeing combat. We were not trained as EMT's (although I wish we would have been). We were trained for one thing and one thing only....being a life safer in a situation where others are taking lives.. I myself am a product of the Cold War.....basically not seeing any combat. But that does not mean that I do not consider myself a Combat Medic. Combat Vet? No, but Combat Medic? Yes.
Now, with all of this stated, I do feel that the new medics, the 68W's, are far better trained (both for combat and civilian life after) than we 91B's ever wore but that does not make us any less a Combat Medic.
Now, with all of this stated, I do feel that the new medics, the 68W's, are far better trained (both for combat and civilian life after) than we 91B's ever wore but that does not make us any less a Combat Medic.
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SPC Fred Taber
And Actually.... if you pull up the MOS for 68 Whiskey it is now defined as "Combat Medical Specialist" once again. Even on this forum it states 68 Whiskey-Health Care Specialist (Combat Medic). Because that is what you are being trained for. Doesn't matter if you end up in an aid station, hospital or field unit.
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SGT Jeffrey Dennis
SP5 Peter Keane - I graduated from the Department of Combat Medic Training in 2005. They changed the name of it to the Military Education Training Campus, because back then only the Army Medics trained at Fort Sam Houston. Now all medics train there(Army Medics, Corpsman, Air Force Medics). So, they changed the name of Department of Combat Medic Training to on that would encompass all three branches.
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SGT Jeffrey Dennis
Combat Engineers are called Combat Engineers because thats where they do their "engineering", in combat situations. Combat Medics perform their duties in Combat. You are a Combat Medic when you have become qualified in the 68W MOS. To earn the Combat Medical Badge, you must deploy to combat.
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"Combat" is an adjective that describes the environment that medic is trained to operate in. It is not a qualifier.
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LTC Paul Labrador
So my combat medics working ina TDA or in and sud station at BDE level who hold the same MOS, are required to have the same training and qualifications, but don't qualify for the CMP aren't combat medic??? CMB proves nothing other than you happened to have been assigned to a line unit and took fire at least once.
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